


Brave New World | Doctor Who Series 1, Episode 1

by ReganInglis



Series: Doctor Who | Series 1 [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor Who References, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22575100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReganInglis/pseuds/ReganInglis
Summary: A budding journalist finds her first major story. A spate of mysterious deaths confuse the authorities. And a being from another world finds their past beginning to creep up on them. The Universe awaits...
Series: Doctor Who | Series 1 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624294
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally found a place where I can vent all of my ideas for my take on Doctor Who. Granted I'm used to writing in screenplay formats, so forgive me if my writing isn't up to scratch. I don't really have a plan as of yet for when I'll be adding new chapters, but I'll try and keep it fairly frequent - after all, I've got an entire series of ideas in my head!
> 
> Anyhoo, enjoy the beginning of something new...

* * *

There was silence in the hospital that night. All of the other nurses and doctors had left in the last few hours while Dr. Russell Stevens stayed back to finish work he’d put on the back-burner. Not because he was lazy, but because he enjoyed working on his own. No distractions. Nothing to annoy him.

Tonight was different. As he went through his files, he heard a clattering noise coming from outside his office. Concerned, Russell left his seat and peered through a window into the hallway. The place was still. Nothing to be seen around.

 _Must be hearing things,_ Russell thought to himself. The long hours and lack of any human contact must have been getting to him.

Before he could move back to his computer, the lights suddenly went off.

“Well that’s just great” He sighed.

Russell headed into the hallway, realising the lights were off there too. Darkness enveloped most areas, except where moonlight shone through the odd window. Looking down the hallway, Russell saw an electrical room. Hoping he could reboot the lights, he walked towards it - failing to notice a shadow appear behind him, at the end of the hallway.

Russell pulled on the door, unable to open it. He didn’t have a key to get in. And he was the only person working on this floor. The shadow moved closer to Russell as he sighed in annoyance. Someone else must be here, he said in his head. He went to the nearby lift and pushed the button, casually waiting for the lift to emerge.

The seconds felt like minutes to Russell. And he still had yet to see the figure behind him, the distance between the two becoming shorter by the moment.

He pressed the button again. “Come on, man.” He said. His patience was waning. He reached for the button once more before *BLAM* A beam of energy shot past his hand, hitting the button right in the centre, leaving only a scorched hole where the button should have been. Veering round, Russell finally saw the figure, obscured by the darkness in the hallway. He couldn’t make out any discernible features. Panicked, Russell ran down the hall towards a fire exit, the figure hot on his heels.

The door swung open with enough force to leave a dent in the wall as Russell barrelled down the staircase in a hurry. He routinely looked behind him to see if the figure was still following him. Russell kept running, the ground nearly in sight. Above him, the door he originally came through swung open once again.

Russell finally reached the ground floor, and fell through the fire exit door leading into the alleyway behind the hospital. He fell against one of the bins, trying to catch his breath. His hands shaking, he reached into his pocket to find his phone. Opening it up, he looked at his signal bar: no service.

Russell began to panic. He looked towards the end of the alleyway and saw a car - a police car to be exact. And the police officer was standing alongside it, reading a little notepad.

He wasted no time. Clambering to his feet, Russell started running towards the officer.

“Hey!” He shouted. “Hey, you!”

The police officer was oblivious to Russell’s cries.

“Help me! Please!” Russell continued. “There’s a -”

Russell got halfway when he felt an excruciating pain hit him in his lower back. He felt like he was being burned from the inside. He tried to cry out in pain, but no sound came from his throat. Before he could try to scream again, Russell fell to the ground, dead.

It was at this moment that the officer looked towards the alleyway, only to find Russell’s body lying on the ground. Grabbing his radio, the officer ran into the alleyway to see what had happened.

“All officers in the area, I’ve got a possible 10-31, anyone respond?” He spoke into his radio.

Looking more closely, the officer saw a blast mark on Russell’s back, smoke emanating from the wound.

The figure viewed the proceedings from the fire exit door, his true visage obscured by the intense shadows adorning the alleyway. The figure looked down at a device on his wrist, which projected a small screen. A strange language could be seen, it’s true translation known only to the figure.

At this point, the police officer saw the figure and froze where he was, unsure of what to do.

The figure glanced down at the officer, unmoving. He turned the screen off, and suddenly vanished, as if he was never there.

The officer stood there, stunned. At that point, police sirens could be heard in the distance, coming closer. He walked back towards Russell’s body as two police cars drove into the alleyway, their sirens illuminating the alley walls around them. The officer looked back towards where the figure was standing, unsure if he truly believed what he had just seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: Our new companion, Emelie Truman, begins investigating the death of Russell...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The death of Dr. Russell Stevens has spread, and word reaches Emelie Truman, a young budding journalist. Desperate for her first major story, she begins investigating what happened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two is here! I've had to make some changes in the days since releasing the first chapter so here goes:
> 
> \- Initially I had 10 stories planned out for Series One, but I've scaled it down to 8.  
> \- I plan to have 10 chapters in each story, bar the last two, which will have extra chapters. Haven't committed to specifics on those, but they are pretty big stories and I don't want to be stuck for chapters with such a grand story to tell.
> 
> This chapter begins planting the seeds of the core characters, in particular Emelie, who will be the Doctor's companion going forward. My primary inspiration is Sarah Jane Smith, mainly with the journalism aspect of things. The Doctor does appear somewhere here, but isn't a central character right now. His time is coming later.
> 
> Fingers crossed I'll try and keep these updates consistent as much as I can, enjoy!

* * *

BEEP--BEEP--BEEP--BEEP

Emelie's alarm blared through her ear drums, forcing her to flick the switch off in mild annoyance. She threw her quilt over her face, desperate to stay in bed for just a while longer.

"Emelie! Breakfast!" A voice shouted from downstairs. Slowly, she peeled back the quilt, squinting at the light that invaded her eyes. Her continued annoyance couldn't be overstated.

* * *

In the kitchen, Emelie's parents - Emma and Mark - sat around the dinner table, an assortment of toast, cereal and half-eaten bits of fruit lay across the surface. Her younger brother Jake was busy playing with his phone, his headphones wrapped around his ears.

"Well there's a job going at the butcher's?" Mark said. Emma looked questioningly over her glasses.

"Mark, dear. You can barely cook a sausage very well."

"Hey, they aren't half-bad!" He replied.

"They're blacker than the bin bags, Dad" said Jake, his gaze never leaving his phone screen. Mark gave and almost-glare at the boy.

"And yet you still eat them. Mustn't be that bad, eh?" He smirked.

Emelie came down the stairs just before Jake could respond.

"Morning, humans" she announced. She barely acknowledged them as she went to the fridge to grab a breakfast drink.

"Morning. Will we be seeing you at all today?" Emma asked.

Emelie gulped down her drink.

"Well, depends on whether there's a story. Otherwise, I'll be back fairly sharpish. Got plans or something?"

"Not really. Would just be nice to see you for once" Emelie zipped up her bag quickly and began putting her shoes on.

"Trust me, Mum. I don't stay out deliberately, as I keep saying. Do something with Jake."

At this point, Jake acknowledged Emelie and took off his headphones.

"Do you realise how busy I am right now?" Emelie craned her eyebrows at him.

"At 13 years old, I doubt you're busy" she replied. Emelie's phone began vibrating. "Right, sorry. Got to dash. See yous later."

She got out the door before everyone had the chance to say goodbye.

* * *

"Yes, I'm on my way now." Emelie said into her phone. Her boss, Harvey Bale, was on the other end.

"New job for you, kid. You're local to the Royal Hope Hospital, right?"

"Erm yeah, only like ten min--"

"Good. Need you to go straight there. Got a tip that an officer called in a dead body in the early hours this morning. Sounds like something that's happened a few times now. I know you haven't done anything this big--"

"It's fine, I can do it."

"Wonderful. Get what you need and get back here. I want us to be the first ones to get the story out."

As Emelie walked down the street, she saw a squad of police cars scream past her, heading in the direction of the hospital.

"Got it." She said, before ending the call and following the police cars.

* * *

By the time she reached the hospital, the entire area behind the building was cordoned off; police tape covered the alleyway entrance, patrol cars parked along the side of the road, officers keeping bystanders well back. An was parked directly in the entrance, and a body was being moved into the back of it.

Emelie manoeuvred herself through the crowd to reach the front. She took out her journalist I.D and waved it at one of the officers.

"Excuse me, Emelie Truman with The Breaking Feed. What's going on here?"

"No press, here. Keep back please."

Emelie looked past the officer: what appeared to be another reporter was stood by the ambulance, talking to the paramedic.

"He's back there, what's the deal?"

"He's got special clearance."

 _"Of course he does"_ Emelie said to herself. She turned around and walked through the crowd, their desperation to get through seemingly unwavering. She spotted one of the police cars nearby, an officer was sat inside. Taking the opportunity, she walked over and knocked on the window. The officer looked up at her, not interested in taking. Emelie smiled at him, hoping he'll wind down the window. Eventually, he wound it down.

"You're looking spooked, Officer..." She looked at his badge. "... Wilson?"

Wilson looked away for a moment. "Who says I've seen anything?"

"Written all over your face, mate. Kinda hard not to notice. Plus you aren't at the crime scene. You called it in, didn't you?" Wilson sighed, before slowly nodding his head.

"My name's Emelie, I'm with The Breaking Gazette. What happened?" He looked up at her finally, his defensive stance starting to calm.

"It's not the first body I've picked up in the last few days. Another one was found at St Patrick's."

"The University?" Emelie asked, a notepad and pen now in hand.

"Right. Then the one beforehand at Blaise Vet's. Though I didn't call in that one."

"What's his name?"

"Russell Stevens. Good guy, only been there three years. Shame, really." Emelie wrote down in her notepad.

"So third person? Any pattern to it all?"

"Honestly? Outside the same wound on the person's body, nothing I can see." Emelie wrote down what was being said.

"Any chance I can see the bodies?" Wilson shook his head.

"Unless you've got permission from on high, I doubt it." He said.

"Grand, thanks Wilson." Emelie replied.

"Christopher. Chris." Emelie smiled at him, before walking away from the car. She went past the ambulance, but the reporter was gone. More puzzling, the paramedic was seemingly looking around for him too.

"Weirdo." Emelie said out loud.

"Emelie!" Chris shouted from behind. She turned round to see him in the car, beckoning to her. She walked back to the car.

"Not sure if it's anything, but I'm sure I saw someone in the alley when I found Russell."

Emelie broke out the notepad again.

"You tell me. Get a good look at them?"

"No, it was too dark. But I'm sure he was there. But then he wasn't. Like he vanished." Chris looked down at his feet, like he didn't believe what he just said.

"Weird. Thanks Chris." She walked off, leaving Chris to mull over what had happened.

* * *

Emelie walked through the hallways of The Breaking Feed, passing other journalists at their computers, typing away and not acknowledging her.

"Hey, Harvey!" She shouted. A man speaking to another worker looked up at her. Harvey beckoned to his office. Emelie took a seat inside while Harvey finished up with his other conversation.

"So, what have you got, Em?" Harvey asked as he came into the office. She opened up her notepad as he sat down.

"The guy's name was Russell Stevens. Same sort of thing as bodies recovered at the University and Blaise. Only connection so far is the same kind of wound on their backs." Emelie read from her notepad. Harvey held his hands in front of his face, like he was praying.

"I see." He said.

"There was another reporter I think, too. Couldn't see who it was and he was gone by the time I checked again. Is that something we should be worried about?"

"Oh but of course. Rival sites will always be breathing down our necks. But nothing has been published yet so that's good. Type up your findings and we'll move forward with things."

Emelie got up to leave.

"Thanks, Harvey." She left the office to find her computer. Harvey looked out of the window in contemplation. He smiled to himself.

"Good kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: As night falls, another person will fall victim to our mysterious antagonist...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No-one is safe as our mysterious figure continues his hunt for something - or someone...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the third chapter in "Brave New World"! Similar to Chapter One in which we focus on the victim of our antagonist, so definitely not too long. Looking forward to getting deeper into this story, and finally introducing the Doctor himself!

* * *

Daisy was used to her colleagues leaving her with all the difficult work. Night shifts at Redbrick Hills Care Home mostly consisted of ensuring everyone was in bed, and staff were on standby in case something bad happened. Tonight though, Daisy found her colleagues ditching her for a night out. 

_"Drinking and partying are more important, I guess"_ She said to herself. Granted, she knew what she was doing, but she still preferred some form of interaction with staff, something she couldn't get from her patients.

Daisy finished cleaning her desk and began to pack her things up. She brushed past a photo on her desk: it showed herself and Alfred, one of the patients at Redbrick Hills. She smiled as she picked up the photo. She didn't like to choose her favourite patients, but she and Alfred had a special bond. He'd arrived just after she did, and the two immediately connected. She loved to hear his stories of when he fought in the War, and the various missions he was involved in. He never specified which war it was, Daisy wasn't sure he was even telling the truth, but the way he told them, and the genuine emotion that crossed his features whenever he spoke about it made her all warm inside. The memories continued flooding her mind.

As she put the photo down, a flash of light came through the bottom of the door. Quickly grabbing her bag, Daisy opened the door and looked down the hallway: the light was coming from one of the patients' rooms. She recognised the room as-

"Alfred?" She said. Sighing, she walked down the hall towards Alfred's room. "Alfred, I've told you before. You need to stop playing with the torch, I can't do anything if you go blind, that's not my area!" She continued.

She knocked on the door twice, hoping to grab his attention.

"Alfred? Come on, Alfred. Back to bed." No response. Thinking to herself, she decides to go in and check on him. "Okay, Alfred. I'm coming in." She said.

She opened the door to Alfred's room, ensuring she didn't startle him if he was awake. The light was gone, and in its place was a figure. All of the lights were off, but the moonlight gave Daisy a glimpse at the figure's look: he was clad in some kind of dark-silver armour, with green lights shining in-between the plates. A bandolier filled with bullets and weapons covered his upper body, while his face was covered by a helmet, a screen could be seen which featured some kind of foreign language on, like a heads-up display of some kind. He stood next to a bed, in which laid Alfred, unmoving. Daisy began to panic.

"Alfred?" She asked. The figure looked up at her. She threw her arms up in distress.

"Don't shoot! Please God don't shoot!" She begged. The figure stood still, watching her. His head dropped to look at her badge: the name read Dr. Daisy Colborne.

"Aserge duatin pah?" The figure asked, it's language confusing Daisy.

"Ss... sorry, what?"

"Muonfre duatin Doctor?" He asked again. This time, Daisy recognised some of his speech.

"Doctor?" She replied.

"You... are... Doctor?"

She paused. "Yes... yes. I am a doctor-" She was unable to finish her response before the blast hit her, her body slamming into the wall. The figure came out into the hallway, looking down. Using a device on his wrist, he scanned Daisy's body, before checking the readings on a screen. Though the language was impossible to read for a human, the nature of it was clear to the figure.

"You are... not Doctor." He said, before vanishing in a quick flash of light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: Emelie's investigations take her to Redbrick Hills, where she learns more...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emelie's search for answers leads her to Redbrick Hills, where more is revealed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story continues! Really enjoyed writing this one, seeing Emelie's character develop just that little bit more helps a long way into making this character three-dimensional. Is the Doctor here? Well read on and find out...

The patients had been evacuated in the wake of Daisy's body being found. Everyone from the police, paramedics to the press had conglomerated in the main sitting room area, whilst photographers and other emergency service staff moved from bedroom to bedroom, finding information where the could.

As Emelie walked in - notepad in hand, she passed a small family sat by the reception area: a Father and his two daughters, crying into his lap. As Emelie ventured further in she found Chris Wilson, the police officer from the night before. She tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to see the young reporter.

"Yeah, I figured you'd show up here." Chris said.

"What can I say? I'm intrigued" she replied, smiling. "Same thing as Russell?"

He nodded in agreement.

"Same wound too, only this time it looked like she was shot in the front. Not the back." Emelie wrote down the findings. She looked over the room, and saw one paramedic take a body away on a stretcher.

"Who's that?" Emelie asked, pointing towards the stretcher.

"Alfred Kane, patient here. He was killed too, but not with the same injury."

"So probably still related then? Too much of a coincidence for it not to be." Emelie thought, continuing to write down her new information.

"What do you think, then? Any theories as to what's going on?" Chris asked. Emelie stood for a moment, thinking.

"The only similarity I can find is that both victims are doctors? Might be reaching there but could be something to look into." She said. Chris himself looked deep in thought.

"Hmm." He muttered. "Possibly. Like you say, no coincidences." Emelie nodded at this.

"I'll see what I can find. Probably catch up if there's another one?"

"More than likely, yes. See you around, Miss Truman."

"Emelie." The two parted company. As Emelie went to leave, she spotted a familiar face in the corner of the room, speaking to one of the paramedics. He was wearing a navy blue jacket with a yellow flannel shirt underneath. Dark jeans and boots adorned his lower body, and a lanyard could be seen around his neck. He hadn't spotted Emelie just yet.

"Hey, you!" Emelie said loudly. This got the man's attention, and he looked over to see where Emelie was. She beckoned him to come over. He quickly finished his conversation and walked over to Emelie.

"What?" He asked her.

"Never mind 'what'. How were you able to speak to the paramedic?"

He looked confused. "Well, I walked over and began a conversation. That's usually how it-" Emelie cut him off.

"Not now! Yesterday, at the Hospital. 'Special clearance'? What's that supposed to mean?" She asked in a more demanding tone.

"Oh. Well if I told you, I'd have to kill you." He said with a smirk. Emelie wasn't having any of it.

"Who're you with?" She questioned.

"Lambert Chronicle. Seemed like an interesting story. What have you got so far?"

"I'm not telling you, this is supposed to be my story!" She shouted, some of the others beginning to look over at the two arguing.

"So that's all it it to you? A story? These are people's lives we're covering here. Did you not even take notice of the family as you came in?" He glanced over towards the Father with his two daughters. "That's Daisy's family. They've lost their Mother. That's more than just a story." Emelie went silent, she wasn't sure how to respond.

"I can tell this is your first." She glared at the reporter, her anger building. "Maybe stick to fluff pieces about cats and stuff, less chance of you missing things." Before she could say anything, he had already turned round and walked out of the building, leaving Emelie alone with her notepad and an ever-deepening pit of anger.

* * *

That evening, Emelie had ventured home after gathering more information from the other locations where people had died. Her bedroom wall was a sea of newspaper clippings, post-it-notes and bits of string tying things together, all around a map of the town. Certain locations were circled in red: Redbrick Hills, Royal Hope Hospital, St. Patrick's University and Blaise Vet's - all locations of every victim thus far. Emelie studied the map in detail, trying to find a pattern between the events. Her trips to the other areas of interest had confirmed her theory:

 _All of the victims are doctors,_ Emelie thought to herself. _Well, were doctors._

With this newfound connection, she could find a stronger pattern between the victims and their locations, and see who and where might be hit next.

She traced a line from the original murder: the University, to the Vet's with a red line, adding sticky tape in-between locations. She did the same from the Vet's to the Hospital, and then to Redbrick Hills. With this line, she was able to deduce that the murderer was following a direction of sorts. As Emelie looked at the possible locations, she came to realise something.

 _None of these have anything to do with doctors, or medicine or anything, s_ he thought. So why would the killer target any of these? The only area that looked to be interesting was an old junkyard. _"Will's Junkyard."_ She circled the location with her red marker pen, and stepped back to see the full picture. If she had mapped it out correctly, this was the only possible area to be hit next.

"An old scrap yard" she said aloud. "I've definitely missed something here."

Regardless of this, she felt she should still check it out. It was her only lead thus far. She grabbed her coat and shoes and headed out of the house, leaving the wall covered in theories about what was really going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: Emelie takes it upon herself to see if her suspicions are true, leading her into terrible danger...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emelie's theories bring her to an abandoned junkyard, where she faces a terrible danger...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been away on holiday for a few days so I'm now back to continue this story. As we're at the mid-point in this story, things are starting to ramp up for our companion, as her view of the world ultimately morphs into something new and exciting. Enjoy!

* * *

'Will's Junkyard' had been abandoned years ago. Having gone bankrupt, he was forced to move out of town, leaving the junkyard without an owner, and collecting dust. Because of this, Emelie found it rather simple to get in, a simple twist of the locks and a vault over a wall. She knew that what she was doing was wrong, but she was so desperate to prove her worth as a journalist, she was determined more than anything else. Everything negative had been pushed to the back of her mind, instead focusing on the story at hand.

After climbing over the wall, Emelie took out a torch from a little bag slung over her shoulder. The light that shone from the bulb was strong, and allowed her to see everything rather clearly: she spotted numerous destroyed cars positioned on top of one another, skips full of junk lay strewn around the area, and a small building which probably housed the old office could be seen as well. Emelie ducked behind one of the wrecked cars, and waited.

Minutes felt like hours to her. _Am I right about this? s_ he thought to herself. The Junkyard felt like such an unusual place to go, nothing about it really fit with the possible pattern this murderer was following. Her thoughts were answered suddenly as the light from the night before appeared in the scrap yard. Emelie kept her head down, looking at the event through a crack in the car window. The figure appeared through the light, his helmet projecting a torch - not unlike Emelie's - to search the area. Emelie tried to stay as quiet as possible, for fear of being seen by this strange being. Despite this, she was able to take out her phone with little sound, and began to video record the figure.

He began to move forward, his head looking all around, unaware of his being spied on. His focus was elsewhere. He was not here for her. He proceeded to walk past the same car Emelie was hiding behind, but she had already begun to move around the car in the opposite direction, keeping out of his line of sight.

"I know you're here." The figure announced. "You really think you can hide any longer?"

Emelie moved behind the office building, her sights never leaving the figure walking away from her.

 _"Who is he looking for?"_ She wondered in her head. He'd already killed four people in the last week, surely he'd done enough? As she crept backwards, her foot hit the side of another car, hard enough that the sound of contact could be audible to anyone nearby. The figure turned sharply, his light now shining upon where Emelie was standing, frozen to the spot with fear.

"Crap!" The laser blast would've hit her in the chest had she not ducked and began running behind the building. The figure gave chase, reloading his wrist-mounted weapon as he pursued her.

The scrap yard was like a maze in the dark. There was no discernible path to safety, and Emelie found herself beginning to slow down, and the figure getting closer. Reaching a clearing in-between the wall of cars, the figure appeared behind her, weapon fully charged. Emelie turned round to face him, nowhere left to run.

"You are not my target. But you still can't live." He said, raising his weapon. Emelie struggled to find the response she was playing in her head, instead closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable.

"Oh she'll live." Said a voice from behind Emelie. She spun round to see someone standing in the shadows. "But you won't. GET DOWN!" He shouted, the last line Emelie took to be aimed at her. She immediately fell to the floor as a blast of energy left the man and hit the figure in his stomach, sending him flying backwards. Emelie could hardly believe what had just happened, before she was picked up and pulled away from the fight by her mysterious rescuer.

They both ducked inside one of the old rubbish skips, luckily devoid of any debris, but just tall enough to shield them from view. Now he was in the light, Emelie could see who he was: the annoying reporter from earlier that day.

"Are you kidding me? What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded. He looked down at her, slightly bewildered.

"You're welcome." He replied. "And I could ask you the same question."

"I'm trying to solve this mystery, thanks very much."

"Alright, Velma. What have you got to deal with that thing trying to hunt us down?" He asked sarcastically.

"Well obviously I didn't factor in the alien killing machine!" She whispered loudly, gesturing to where the hunter was.

"Who says he's alien?"

"Can you name anything on this Earth with that kind of tech and can appear in a flash of light?" She questioned. The man smiled.

"Very good. This will be easier than I expected." He said, almost proudly.

The hunter had since stood up, and a flying object exited out of a his back, and began to float upwards. A thin red light began to look around the area. The man looked to Emelie.

"And what about the 'Drone of Death'? Got anything for that?" Emelie couldn't even dignify that with a response, and instead just looked at him, bemused. "Just asking." He stopped to think of a plan of action.

"Okay. You any good at throwing?" He asked her, pointing towards a nail on the floor of the skip, roughly the size of her palm.

"Well I wouldn't say I'm bad at it but--"

"Good, that's good enough" he said quickly, handing her the nail. "Get cracking."

He pointed towards one of the walls of cars, signifying that as the throwing area. Readying herself, Emelie took a deep breath, and threw the nail at the desired location. The nail flew through the air, hitting the side of one of the cars, and startling the hunter and his drone. Seeing the landing area of the nail, the drone began firing at the car, it's programming too primitive to alternate between it's true target and the nail. This gave the reporter and Emelie the chance to flee. As they ran past, the reporter set off another beam of energy, this time at the drone. The hit was successful, its metallic form becoming nothing but dust on the ground.

The hunter saw this attack, and began to charge towards the two.

Before he could get any further, he felt himself being forced back a few steps. He tried again, only for the same thing to occur.

"Brilliant, got it working again." The reporter said, a hint of glee spread across his face. Emelie could only stare in confusion.

"Got what working?" She asked. The reporter pointed towards a translucent screen in front of the hunter, which appeared whenever he put his hand out.

"Rudimentary force field tech. Found it ages ago. Good for intruders. Or alien bounty hunters." He looked back to the hunter in the shield. "Okay, then. Who are you, and why are you here?"

The hunter remained silent, only staring.

"Oh so you're the silent one? Well that's rubbish, no exposition to listen to. How about you try again?" He asked. The hunter hesitated.

"Rukkali. I'm here for the Doctor." the hunter finally said. The reporter paused for a moment.

"Well that narrows it down, there are many doctors on this planet--"

" _The_ Doctor." Rukkali emphasised. "I kill the Doctor, I get my reward." 

The reporter looked back at Emelie, a grave expression on his face. Emelie began to put the pieces together in her head. He then looked at Rukkali.

"You aren't welcome on this planet. You get one warning: leave, or I'll have to stop you." He stood defiant against the alien invader.

"I cannot leave." Rukkali said. The reporter smirked.

"Well I should've altered my wording. See where you're standing?" Rukkali looked at the shield.

"A force field?" The reporter shook his head.

"No, you're standing inside a force field. What you're standing _on_ , however..." He pointed to the ground. A metallic disc which shone a bright blue light could be seen underneath Rukkali's feet. The hunter quickly looked back to the reporter.

"A teleporter." Said the reporter. "See you around!" After saying this, the blue light spread across Rukkali's body, pulling him inwards and vanishing from view.

"Well wasn't that easy?" The reporter asked himself, dusting off his coat. Realising he was being watched, she turned to see Emelie looking at him in utter bewilderment.

"Start talking." She said quickly. The reporter looked at her, contemplating his next response.

"Alright. Hello Emelie, I'm the Doctor. I think I need your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: The Doctor and Emelie become acquainted as they begin to learn more about the alien bounty hunter...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Emelie become acquainted, learning more about eachother, and the dangers they now face...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is in! Now we're finally introduced to this Universe's incarnation of the Doctor. I based him mostly on James McAvoy, I've always felt like he'd make a great Doctor. This chapter is very much a character piece, focusing on our two leads as they get to know each other. Enjoy!

* * *

"My help"? Emelie asked, with some trepidation. The Doctor nodded his head.

"Well, no-one else is gonna believe what you've seen. That's the problem with humans. Unable to grasp at the truth." He explained.

"Aliens? Trust me, we're most definitely blind to it, even when we say we're not." Emelie said, the Doctor smiling at this before walking away. "So, teleportation? Like, that's a thing?" She asked. The Doctor beckoned towards her to follow him.

"Not yet. But you'll get there. A couple false starts, missing limbs and the odd missing person. But you'll figure it out eventually." Emelie arched her eyebrow.

"How could you possibly know that?" He stopped and turned to her.

"I don't, just guessing." He admitted. He turned back around and entered a small room, filled with assortments of junk, some recognisable, others more akin to something one would find on a science-fiction show. 

"There's a seat over there. Pretty sure I took out the ejection system." He gestured towards an armchair.

"Ejection system?" She asked cautiously.

"It was part of a ship that crashed on Earth few years back. The creature inside was pretty nasty, but the seats are really comfy." He took out a little stool to sit on, whereas Emelie just stared at the armchair. Eventually she plucked up the courage to sit down. The Doctor was right: it was very comfy indeed.

"So, who are you really?" She asked as he seemed to be putting food into a microwave that looked like it had seen better days.

"Told you, the Doctor."

"Yeah, but Doctor _What_? People usually have a last name." She explained. The microwave pinged, the food was ready.

"Not me. Just the Doctor." He said as he tucked into some baked beans, offering some to her which she politely declined.

"So you really expect me to call you the Doctor?"

"If you'd like, I'm sure there are plenty of other names I've had over the years." He continued to eat his beans, Emelie just watching the strange man as he ate.

"What about that metal-guy? Rukkali?" The Doctor stopped eating for a moment and placed the container of beans on a little rudimentary side-table.

"Bounty hunter, I think. Not sure why he's looking for me, though." Emelie thought back to her findings.

"All the victims were doctors. Suppose he was given the wrong information?"

The Doctor contemplated for a moment.

"Possibly. Other option is his systems were damaged when he arrived, so it was targeting the wrong people. Least until it rebooted and found me." He looked directly at Emelie. "But how did _you_ find me?" Emelie shrugged her shoulders.

"This was the only location that fit the pattern of these killings. Even I thought it was stupid, doctors aren't usually found in scrap yards." The Doctor smirked.

"You'd be surprised." He resumed his eating. Emelie began to look around the room. Whilst the objects inside looked out of place, they were organised in such a way that they almost fit in.

"How long have you been here?" She asked. The Doctor looked around also.

"Couple of years. I don't stay in one place for too long. I tend to move around a lot."

"Why? You on the run or something?" He shook his head.

"Just keeping off the grid. I'd rather people don't find me, otherwise they might get hurt."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." She smiled, he gave her a smile in return. He'd finished his beans now.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Rukkali. If I set the systems correctly, he should have been sent out to the Andes or someplace like it." Emelie chuckled.

"Oddly specific."

"Although it might have been Andes Street. There's one in South Africa. Doesn't really matter, so long as he isn't here." He said.

"Aren't you worried he'll start killing again?" Emelie wondered.

"Nah. He knows where I am now. He'll just find a way to get back here and try to kill me again. Fingers crossed." He admitted. The two fell silent, looking at other areas of the room, deliberately avoiding eye contact with each other. Breaking the silence, Emelie got up from the comfy armchair.

"I think I should be getting back now. My parents will probably be wondering where I've got to." The Doctor nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, probably." He said. He too stood up to face her. "Thank you, Emelie. If you hadn't been there I might have spent even more time thinking of a way to save my bacon. Lucky you were there." He said, winking. Emelie smiled.

"If that thing comes back, I will too. Doubt you'll be able to stop it on your own." She replied.

"Oh I dunno, I'm sure I'd think of something." He gloated, which Emelie laughed at. "But yeah, I'd appreciate the help."

Smiling, Emelie walked out of the room, leaving the Doctor alone with his empty beans container and the ejector-less armchair.

* * *

Climbing over the wall she had previously, Emelie was able to get out of the junkyard with relative ease. Unfortunately, as she turned a corner, a bright light shone directly towards her. She covered her eyes with her hands as she heard a voice boom out.

"Freeze!" Said the unseen person. Emelie instinctively put her hands up, her eyes adjusting to the light. She made out the silhouette of a police officer, standing by a police car. As the officer came closer, she recognised who it was: _Officer Wilson._

"Chris? " Emelie asked loudly. Wilson came closer.

"You're taking the piss, aren't you?"

"Chris, I think you've made a mistake. I was just--"

"Breaking and entering? Yeah, I saw. I don't care how desperate you are for a story, but this is breaking the law. Sorry, Miss Truman. I'm gonna have to take you in." He explained, revealing a set of handcuffs from his belt. Emelie looked back towards the junkyard, hoping the Doctor would come out and help her. But nothing. She was on her own. Reluctantly, she brought her hands down, and presented them for handcuffing.

"Bugger."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: Emelie's life begins to crumble around her in the wake of her investigations, leading to some tough decisions...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking in for questioning, Emelie finds her future as a investigative journalist in jeopardy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was hoping to update this a few days ago, but I've had stuff to sort out, so here is the next chapter - finally!

* * *

Emelie looked all around the interrogation room, hoping to find a way out. The room was bare-boned to say the least, deliberately by design. A single desk with a computer was the most interesting thing around, though devoid of any police officer currently. Due to this, Emelie's anxiety levels were high. Though she was no longer in handcuffs, she could still feel where they were, a distinct red marking ran all around her wrists, and would be there for some time. The window behind the desk presented nothing remarkable. The position of the police station was actually rather ingenious: the outside world from this position didn't feel particularly welcoming, thus making the station itself more warm and comforting. This deterred people from trying to escape, or at the very least tried to do so on a psychological level. No-one had escaped yet, so it was clearly working.

Eventually an officer walked in, holding a clipboard with a bunch of standard interrogation questions on a sheet of paper. The officer looked tired, almost as if this wasn't her first interrogation today. As she sat at the desk, Emelie tried to keep eye contact, and not look at all suspicious.

"Alright, let's get this over with" the officer announced, placing a voice recorder on the desk in-between her and Emelie. "I'll be recording the events of this conversation for security purposes, okay?" Emelie nodded.

"Grand. So, start with your name and date of birth" she said, pen in hand. Emelie cleared her throat.

"Emelie Truman, 11th December 1997" she replied. The officer began writing down on the paper.

"Occupation?"

"Journalist for The Breaking Feed."

The officer continued writing.

"You're aware that you were arrested for trespassing on private property, correct?" Emelie remained silent. "Yes, no?" the officer asked.

"Yes."

"Why were you trespassing?"

"I've been investigating the recent murders around town, figured there'd be something in the scrap yard." Emelie admitted. The officer didn't look too convinced.

"Really? What kind of connection?" She asked, popping the pen down, almost intrigued.

"Well, I looked at the locations for all of the victims, and the scrap yard was the next location in the pattern. Granted it didn't really fit with anything but thought I'd check it out."

The officer just looked at her, studying her features. Emelie continued to look back, for fear of breaking eye contact.

"And? Did you find anything?"

She picked up the pen again, and Emelie paused to think of her response. She couldn't admit that the Doctor was there, or that there was an alien bounty hunter on the loose. Who would believe her? Certainly not this officer, who looked to be more irritated by the minute.

"Nope. Nothing" Emelie finally replied.

"You sure about that?" the officer asked. Her eyes were almost drilling holes into Emelie's retinas, desperate to find any clues as to whether or not she was being honest about the events.

"Yeah, definitely"

The two remained quiet for a few moments, just looking at one-another. Eventually, the officer breathed out, and wrote down some more notes.

"Alright. Well you were trespassing on private land, which isn't a criminal offence. However you did have no right to be there, and your manager a Mr.--" She consulted her notes. "-- Bale, has requested to speak with you about the incident." The officer explained. Emelie stayed quiet, not sure how to process everything. As she was thinking, the phone rang. Picking it up, the officer then handed the phone to Emelie, who slowly received it.

"Hello?" she asked quietly into the speaker.

"Emelie? It's Harvey" Emelie began to shake with fear over what was going to happen.

"Harvey, I just wanna say that--" she began, before he cut her off.

"You're a good kid, Emelie. But I will never sanction you going off without consulting me first, how do you think that looks for us? Yeah, you might have something for the story, but you're still trespassing on someone else's property! I didn't teach you to do that. I never would for anyone I employ" he said, almost rushing to get out everything he wanted to say. Emelie's bottom lift began to tremble slightly.

"I'm sorry, Harvey. I really am." She said. Harvey gave a big sigh.

"And I'm sorry too. I thought you were ready for the big stuff. I was wrong. I'm pulling you from this story. I'll give it to someone with more experience" Emelie couldn't bear to respond. She knew she was in the wrong here, but she still felt like it was unfair. She had found more information than anyone else had, and had also learned the truth over what was happening. She didn't want to give it away to another journalist to take credit for.

"Okay." She croaked, her voice on the verge of breaking. There were no goodbyes as the phone went dead. She gave the phone back to the officer.

"I'm sorry that had to happen. We'll be contacting the owner to see if they want to press charges."

Emelie nodded.

* * *

Emelie stayed in her room for the rest of the day. She couldn't bear to face her family, who were now arguing amongst themselves over who should be the one to go up and talk to her. But nothing. Trying to look through her tears, she saw the giant road map she had constructed the day before to find clues for the investigation. The anger inside was beginning to boil. She jumped up from her bed and began tearing everything off the wall, not caring about the damage done to it at all. As she ripped things apart, she saw one piece left: the scrap yard. Where everything had ended for her. And where it also all began. She studied it, thinking back to last night with Rukkali and the Doctor. She could still help, perhaps? She couldn't bear to see another person killed by this monster.

Grabbing her shoes and bag, she sneaked down the stairs, making sure her parents didn't see her. Luckily for her, they were still in the midst of the argument. Taking her shot, she opened the front door and escaped from the house. There was only one thing on her mind: finding the Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: With Emelie's career over, she turns to the only person left to try and salvage what she has left...


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emelie and the Doctor meet once again, deciding to stop Rukkali together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8! Building towards the finale now, things are ramping up! Enjoy!

* * *

In many ways, the Milpo Ecocamp was the best choice for Sonia and Marcos' anniversary: the route the camp was situated on insured they would receive no visitors during their stay there, and were completely alone. To some, that would sound horrifying and potentially dangerous. But not to Sonia and Marcos. While Sonia slept next to him, Marcos lay wide awake. He couldn't get tomorrow's plans out of his head, his excitement was reaching boiling point. He looked over at his suitcase: it still contained many of his clothes, but also the reasons for his excitement.

Inside the case was a small box, smaller than his palm.

And inside was a ring.

He had been planning to propose for a while, but could never find the right time to do so. So when he found out about the Ecocamps in the Andes, he was dead-set on taking her there. It got them out of the house and into nature, it was secluded enough that they wouldn't be worried about seeing other people. Just the two of them together. What could be more perfect?

As he thought about tomorrow, he heard a rustling outside. 

_Wind must be picking up,_ Marcos thought to himself. He tried to go to sleep, but the rustling was getting louder, and somehow closer to where they were sleeping. He looked over to Sonia, who was out like a log. Nothing could wake her. Contemplating for a moment, Marcos left the bed to look through the large window overlooking the valley. He couldn't see much with it being night-time, but during the day one could see for miles. Layers upon layers of lush, green forest. And in the distance, you could glimpse other peaks in the Andes. Truly endless.

The rustling was starting to annoy Marcos. He quietly grabbed the keys to the Pod, and ventured outside to see what was going on.

When he got outside, it was immediately noticeable that he had made an error: there was no wind. Not even a breeze. The trees all around him were still. Calm. Marcos was becoming more and more confused as the night progressed. Before he could head back inside, he heard footsteps behind him. Thinking it was Sonia, he turned around. What faced him wasn't Sonia. But a man in a suit of armour, but none that was commonplace on Earth. It was Rukkali. Marcos stood still, paralysed with fear. Rukkali remained motionless, waiting to see who would make the first move. But nothing. Neither figure would even raise a finger. Suddenly, a long dagger emerged from Rukkali's wrist, and he plunged it through Marcos' torso, pulling him towards him and covering his mouth with a gauntlet. No sound. No witnesses.

Marcos fell to the ground, and remained there. Rukkali turned around and walked into the Pod, where Sonia was still sleeping. Inside, he walked over to the TV, his reflection could be seen in the black screen. Pausing to take a look at it, he knelt down and placed a hand on the screen. Almost instantaneously, the screen came one, bright and flashing hundreds of images a second. Seemingly random. Upon closer inspection, the images had one thing in common: news channels. Rukkali was looking for something.

Sonia had woken up as the screen came on, but remained still, watching the creature mess around with the TV. She didn't know what to do. Where was Marcos? Had this creature done something to him? Slowly and as quietly as she could, Sonia climbed out from underneath the duvet, and crept over to behind the wall. Rukkali looked back towards the bed, but failed to see Sonia. Satisfied he was alone, he turned back to the TV, still the images kept on coming.

Sonia looked down next to her feet: Marcos' baseball bat. He carried it around with him everywhere. Knowing what she wanted to do, she picked up the bat, and began to slowly creep towards the creature. He was too absorbed with his task to notice her. As she got closer, she looked to the side, where the front door was. It was then that she saw Marcos' body, lying on the ground. She pulled her hand up to her mouth, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She was still slowly moving forwards, not taking into account that the TV had switched off. Nothing on the screen. Just a reflection of Rukkali. And her with the bat. He had already turned and fired his weapon before she could react to him. And she was already dead before she hit the ground.

"No witnesses." He said, before vanishing in a flash of light.

* * *

Emelie made sure to stay hidden as she walked to the junkyard. There wasn't a major presence of police there, but one couldn't be too careful about these things.

The chains were back on the front gates, no doubt the Doctor's doing to deter vandals and trespassers. She instead climbed over the same wall she did the first time she came here. This time, as she landed in the junkyard, she found the Doctor waiting for her. Almost like he knew she was coming.

"I figured you'd show up again." He said, smiling. Emelie didn't return the smile, however. He took notice of this. "What's up?"

"I've lost everything." Emelie blurted out. "The police got to me last night. Lost my job now. I'm basically screwed." She fell against one of the scrapped cars, beginning to cry. The Doctor crouched down to her level, not wanting to appear bigger than her, but just like her.

"Are you screwed, though? You'd only had that job for, what, like a day?"

"I'd been there for three years doing other stuff, this was my first story. Now my only story." She whimpered, tears streaming like a waterfall down her face.

"Who's to say you need that job? Maybe you're made for better things." Emelie looked up at him, blinking out the tears.

"What makes you say that?" She asked. He smiled at her.

"A feeling." He got up and began walking towards the office block. Emelie pulled herself up and followed him.

"I wanna help." She shouted after him. He turned round to face her.

"Oh?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I might have lost my career, but that Rukkali is still on the loose. We need to stop him." She declared.

"Hmm." The Doctor muttered. While he was grateful for the help, he wasn't sure he wanted to put Emelie in harm's way. "It could be dangerous."

"It will be dangerous. But I don't care. If I can do something right, it's this." She said. Eventually, the Doctor nodded.

"Okay then. Where do we start?"

Emelie began to theorise in her head.

"Well you're still his target, and now he knows who you are this time. There's nowhere to hide, so we kill him." This took the Doctor aback.

"Nope. No killing. I don't do that." He said bluntly.

"But he won't stop if we--"

"One act of killing doesn't solve anything. It just makes you worse than him. You need to be the best version of humanity. Murder is not the way." He explained. Emelie nodded in agreement, with just a hint of disappointment.

"So what then?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: With their plan in motion, the Doctor and Emelie face Rukkali one last time...


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Emelie take a stand against Rukkali...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a lot longer to write than I initially anticipated. I guess I just find endings difficult to crack sometimes. I really hope you like it, enjoy!

* * *

In the days since Russell was killed, the patients of Royal Hope had been evacuated to nearby medical centres. The odds of another attack was slim to none, but no-one wanted to take that chance. The scene left behind was one of chaos and confusion: items left scattered around the building like their owners had seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth. Rooms had been ransacked of belongings; some staff, some patients, others just ordinary people to find something to steal in the stress of it all.

The police had been stationed outside the building since the early hours, but their numbers had been diminishing as the days went by. As the odds of an attack lowered, so did the officers positioned there. The first hours were swarming with patrol cars and officers, defiant in ensuring no-one entered the premises. Now, there was nothing. As the day drew to a close, news broke that the hospital would begin to filter in patients once again, but first they needed to clear up the building, making sure it was fit for habitation. This wouldn't be until the morning, giving the Doctor and Emelie the chance to sneak in and begin enacting their plans.

* * *

The duo walked down the ransacked hallways of Royal Hope, their flashlights shining into the corners. They kept looking to see of anything blocking their path as they continued on: the occasional wheelchair left on its side came into view, but was quickly dismissed as the journey went on.

"I'm getting some serious 'Walking Dead' vibes here." Emelie stated. The Doctor didn't look overly pleased.

"God, I hate that show." He blurted out, much to Emelie's disappointment.

"Where do you stand on zombies? Are they real, or just aliens too?" She continued.

"Well I'm sure you can get zombie aliens, Emelie. Don't think that'd be specific to Humans." He explained.

"So you've seen zombies before then?"

"I mean, probably. It all kind of blurs together after a while."

Emelie didn't think to question the Doctor's words.

"Please tell me you brought the Qurceon Amplifier?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm still calling it the 'Spacey-Doo-Dad-Thing." Emelie replied.

"Hey, I couldn't care less what you call it, so long as you brought it."

They had come across Russell's office as they walked through the Royal Hope. Interestingly, his office appeared to be the least ransacked of them all, almost like a sign of respect for the late doctor. Emelie combed through his desk and found the photo of Russell and his family. They looked very happy as they sat by what appeared to be a fishing lake.

"Hate to think what they're going through." Emelie muttered. The Doctor came up behind her to see the photo.

"I still mean what I said back at the care home. These are people's lives, not just stories for a newspaper. You need to understand the world they're experiencing now. " He told her. "That's where we come in. helping those who need it the most." She acknowledged what he was saying, but continued to look at the happy family. He went to walk out of the office, before turning to face her.

"This is my world." He said, leaving Emelie to ponder the implications of what she wanted to accomplish. Eventually, she set the photo down and followed the Doctor.

She found him at the main reception area. Documents strewn across the desks, like someone had been desperately searching for something important. Underneath some of the pages, the Doctor found a microphone.

"Ace. Now this should be connected to the speaker system throughout the whole hospital." He determined. Emelie extended her hand to him, the Amplifier in her palm.

"Doo-Dad?" She asked. He smiled at her.

"Doo-Dad." He repeated, taking the Amplifier from her. Pulling a bunch of wires from behind the microphone, he took one end and connected it up to the Amplifier.

"So if this is an amplifier, what exactly is it 'amplifying'?" Emelie questioned.

"Well, If I did this right, Rukkali will still be searching for me. So we're gonna send him a message. This Qurceon Amplifier will transmit whatever message we want across all frequencies via Earth's satellites. No way he won't hear it." He clarified. As he said this, the Amplifier began pulsing a steady green colour.

"Okay, should be connected now." He said. He moved away from the microphone, and instead looked towards Emelie. She looked confused at him.

"What?"

"You say you wanna help people? Give it a go." He said, gesturing to the microphone.

Emelie stared at the contraption for a moment, contemplating her next decision. She nodded her head, and sat down in front of the microphone.

"What do I say?" She asked him. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Something that'll get his attention. Make him angry." He suggested to her. Emelie looked back down at the microphone. A light bulb switched on in her head, and she pressed down on a little button that controlled the microphone. She brought her face closer, and began to speak into it.

"This message is for Rukkali. You've failed in your mission. The Doctor is still alive. You've let innocent people die in your desperation. Quite frankly, an embarrassing show, in my book." She announced. Taking her finger off the button, she looked up at the Doctor, almost for approval.

"Any good?" She asked. He waited for a moment.

"I think so. That'd definitely piss me off." He said, making Emelie smile. Before any more could be said, a bright flash of light blasted through the hallway, followed by the sound of an energy weapon powering up. The two looked up over the desk to see Rukkali, standing at the end of the hallway and covering their initial exit route.

"Yep, you pissed him off!" The Doctor said loudly. Rukkali aimed his wrist-weapon at his target. He sent a blast towards him, but Emelie was able to push him and her out of the line of fire. They both fell to the ground, shielding from view by the desk.

"Exit?" She inquired. He looked up and all around where he was lying.

"Fire exit, that way." He said, pointing behind him. Emelie aimed her gaze towards where the Doctor described, seeing the door at the end of the room. Thinking quickly, she pulled him up from the floor and they both ran to the exit. Rukkali continued sending blasts at them, but his aim was like that of an incompetent Stormtrooper. Or maybe they were just warning shots. Regardless, the Doctor and Emelie were able to dodge the incoming fire until they reached the fire exit. Pulling the door open, they ran down the stairs to reach the ground floor.

Rukkali stopped firing, recognising what was happening. He had witnessed Russell do the exact same thing just a few nights prior. " _Not this time."_ He thought to himself. In a flash of light, he vanished.

* * *

The Doctor and Emelie practically fell out of the fire escape into the alleyway. While Emelie held the door shut, the Doctor began pulling one of the nearby bins towards the door, as a way to keep it shut.

"Don't suppose you've got some little device to keep the door shut, do you?" Emelie asked. The Doctor turned to her, a look of near disgust on his face.

"What do you think I am, a magician?" He replied. Emelie rolled her eyes as he pulled the bin in front of the door.

"Right, that should hold him." He proclaimed, before taking Emelie's hand and began running down the alleyway. The motion was short-lived however, as Rukkali materialised in front of the pair, bringing them to a standstill. His arm was raised, his weapon now ready to fire upon them.

"You're really starting to annoy me now." He said. The Doctor chuckled.

"What, only now? Must be getting slow." He retorted.

"Do you understand how far I've come? How difficult it has been to find you?"

"So difficult you've been killing other doctors in confusion. You really are incompetent." The Doctor remarked. Rukkali shuddered, almost offended by the Doctor's words. He inched closer, his weapon never leaving the two. Emelie stepped forward.

"Why do you want him? What's so special about the Doctor?" She asked the alien hunter. Rukkali's head turned to focus on her.

"Oh I don't want him, but my employer does." He explained. "Frankly, I don't care who he is. But the price on his head! That would set me up for life!" He exclaimed. Emelie turned to the Doctor, a questionable look on her face.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked, a question she had been desperate to ask from the moment they had met.

"Just the Doctor. No-one special." He replied. Rukkali shook his head.

"So much more." the alien said. The Doctor brought himself forward.

"Well, now that you mention it, I should have once again altered my wording." He said. Rukkali tilted his head in confusion.

"What I should have said was, I'm a genius!" He shouted out loud, as a beam of light came down from the skies above them, encasing Rukkali in a wall of pure energy.

"What have you done?!" Rukkali demanded.

"It wasn't just you that heard that message. The Amplifier sent that message across the Earth, as well as out into the stars, courtesy of a couple of satellites. Now I was pretty certain your employer would be keeping an eye on you, but when they hear you've let innocent people die? Ooooh, they're gonna be mad." He explained. Rukkali shouted out in anger, firing at the wall of energy. But nothing. The lasers just dissolved as they hit the wall.

"Don't ever think about coming to Earth again. Because I'll be here. I will always be here." The Doctor proclaimed, stepping closer so that he was face to face with Rukkali. The only thing stopping the bounty hunter from attacking the Doctor was the wall of energy. "Remember who I am, Rukkali." He said, a near whisper. Rukkali had barely a second to respond before finding himself dissolving, another form of teleportation. As his body dissolved into particles, they lifted upwards, towards the source of the light. It was too bright to make out any details, but Emelie guessed the ship was massive, maybe the size of the Hospital building. As the particles reached their destination, the vessel roared into life, and in a flash of speed, the ship was nowhere to be seen, like it had never been there to begin with.

"Tricked twice by a teleporter. Really not very bright." Emelie said. The Doctor nodded in response.

"Yup. They tend to be a tad thick." He replied, before walking down the alleyway. Emelie stood still, contemplating what had just happened. The Doctor took notice of this and stopped to look at her. The distance between them was vast, but they could still hear each other.

"You gonna stand there and catch a cold, or you coming?" He asked. Emelie looked at him for a moment. She eventually nodded.

"Yeah, just..." She started. She couldn't find the words. There was just too much to process. As she thought of a response, she followed him out of the alleyway. She caught up to him and they walked side-by-side into the night.

"You did good, kid. Real good." The Doctor said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: The night may be won, but Emelie still has a thousand questions...


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emelie has so many questions to ask the Doctor, she doesn't know where to start...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, at the end! This chapter just ties up where our core characters are, nothing too dramatic this time. Next month, I'll be writing up the next episode in this series. Until then, enjoy!

* * *

The Doctor and Emelie sat around a little cobbled-together coffee table made of assortments of junk. In fact, it didn't really look anything like a table, but Emelie had decided to call it such as they had coffees placed on the top.

"So." Emelie began. The Doctor took a sip from his cup as he awaited a response.

"So?" He repeated. Emelie breathed out before beginning again.

"Who are you really?" She asked. There were so many questions flowing through her mind, she almost needed a fishing rod to try and find them. The Doctor looked at her, almost studying her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you live in a junkyard, you have technology that is totally not of this planet, you call yourself "The Doctor" and an alien bounty hunter reckons you're like God or something!" She exclaimed. The Doctor took another sip from his cup.

"Well I'm not God, if that's what you're thinking." He said.

"Oh I don't, but someone else out there thinks you're something special. So what then?" She almost demanded. Putting his cup down on the rudimentary table, the Doctor put all of his focus on Emelie.

"I told you. I'm the Doctor."

Emelie wasn't having that as an answer.

"Doctor Who?" She questioned. The Doctor shook his head.

"Just the Doctor. That's all I am. All I need to be." He explained. "I try to help people. That's what I do. Help those who need it the most, whilst also keeping a low profile." Emelie was silent, taking in the mysterious man's words carefully.

"Why are you trying to hide?" She wondered.

"I'd rather people didn't know I was here. I stop and help, then I vanish. Or at least try to. Rukkali was the first one to track me down in a long time. Maybe I'm getting rusty." He determined.

"Or maybe his employer knows you?" Emelie suggested.

"Possibly. I'm sure I'll find out eventually." He picked up his cup and started drinking from it again. Emelie sat and watched him, not sure what to ask him next. There were so many possibilities that she couldn't even write them all down, the number of them was too high. Instead, she decided to leave it for today and question him another time.

"I should probably get going." She said, standing up to retrieve her bag. The Doctor stood to meet her. Her eyes met his as they both contemplated what to say next. "Will I see you again?"

The Doctor paused to think on that question.

"I don't know. Like I say, I try to keep to myself. Don't want to put people in danger." He debated.

"But if I hadn't come here, you'd probably be dead." She suggested, a smirk on her face. He too matched her smirk.

"You're right. Yeah. I think you're right." He said. "Thank you, Emelie."

She nodded in approval.

"You're welcome, Doctor." She replied. He nodded as well, before she turned around and left the makeshift dining room made out of junk. The Doctor stood still, watching her as she left. He began to question his decision to do what he did alone. Maybe working with others wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Tell you what? Here" he said, writing on a bit of paper and handing it to her. "Phone number, in case you need to reach me."

Emelie stopped to take the paper from him.

"Thanks" she replied, before continuing out.

"It's a brave new world out there, Emelie!" He shouted after her. She heard him and turned to face him. "Best figure out where you fit into it." She smiled at him, and turned a corner out and was no longer in view.

* * *

Emelie found herself being questioned left, right and centre when she returned home. She was being bombarded with so many thoughts and feelings from her family that she chose to ignore them as they flew at her.

"Where the hell were you?" "What have you been doing?" "Why is your wall covered in newspapers and string?" "Something happened at the hospital, was that you?" All of these and more buried themselves into Emelie's eardrums as she passed her family and went upstairs to her room. They followed her up the stairs until she reached her room and slammed the door shut. Eventually, the questions stopped as they realised she wasn't coming out anytime soon.

Lying on her bed, she looked up at the ceiling and wondered. She thought about the last few days. How she had been given her first story, met the Doctor, lost her dreams as a journalist, and stopped an alien invader. All that over the course of a few days. No-one else could say they had lived such a crazy time. She looked over to her bedside table, and saw an envelope with her name on. She picked it up and began to open it, but stopped. She looked at the return address on the side: _The Breaking Feed_. She knew exactly what this was. Now one would assume she would open the envelope and see a letter from Harvey saying something like "We have decided to terminate your contract" or something along those lines. But instead, she decided put it back on the table, underneath a load of other documents that she had equally ignored. That wasn't important to her right now.

Getting up off the bed, she walked over to her wall of theories, looking at the vast network of patterns and ideas. She had come up with those. Not anyone else. Maybe she didn't need to work at The Breaking Feed to to find meaning. Maybe she could do this herself.

"Helping people." She muttered under her breath. She smiled at this, and proceeded to tear down the newspapers. She hadn't done a great job in actually sticking them to the walls, so they came down with relative ease. Finding a black bin bag under her desk, she crammed the newspapers down into balls and threw them into the bag.

She stood to face the wall again. Now they were empty. No newspapers. No patterns. Nothing. Empty. A blank slate, almost.

"Where I fit in." She said, thinking about what she wants to do. Another light bulb clicked in her mind. She knew exactly what she was going to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME:   
> "The Devourer of Mankind"  
> Trapped in a cabin in the woods, a young girl's cries for help reach the Doctor and Emelie. Can they save her before it's too late?


End file.
